SOCIETY
Rich art, poor artisans

Phulkari is a booming business in Punjab. But the artisans are not getting their due. The state government should provide subsidised loans to entrepreneurs and give assistance in marketing, writes Gagandeep Kaur

Ordinarily, if one were to say that a traditional craft or an art form was still immensely popular, it would spell good news for specialised artisans. Ironically, skilled phulkari craftswomen of Punjab are facing tough times despite a growing demand for their work.

Phulkari, literally flower-crafting, is an embroidery brought to Patiala district of Punjab by a few craftsmen who had migrated from Bhawalpur, near Multan in west Pakistan, after Partition in 1947. Traditionally, embroidery comprises long and short darn stitches on hand-woven khadi cloth in green, rust or orange, cream and bluish-purple colours. While the stitch is uncomplicated, it is the size of the stitch that determines the quality of the phulkari—the smaller the stitch, finer the embroidery. The motifs are generally geometric or floral.

While phulkari is simple and sparse, a more complex version was later evolved, called bagh (garden). In this style, the embroidery covered every inch of the base material.

The art form is a popular form of employment among rural women in Patiala, especially in Tripuri, where girls learn the craft at a young age. It is estimated that phulkari is the only source of earning for more than 5,000 people (largely women) in the district.

"It is an extremely intricate form of embroidery and takes a lot of time and hard work. If we do the traditional work, which our ancestors perfected, it would take three to six months to complete one piece that would fetch anything between Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 in the market," says Kiran Chhabra, an award-winning craftswomen. Chhabra has been conferred with the Kamala Devi Puraskar Award. Her work has been exhibited at shows and fairs across the country.

While the art was patronised by the princely families of Patiala in earlier times, it has now found favour with markets. Today, phulkari embellishes salwar suits, dupattas, sarees, home furnishings, jackets, caps and so on.

Though commercialisation has resulted in employment for thousands of women—nearly every household in Tripuri has an embroiderer—the quality of work has been affected and the embroider's income has been hit. "We hardly get anything—just about Rs 35 to Rs 45 per suit. A dupatta, which may take a month to embroider, brings in only Rs 500 for us. Even though we know that it will be sold in the
market for as much as Rs 3,000, we can't negotiate the price," complains Roopmati, a local embroiderer. Most women say that they cannot ask for a better price because they know that if they refuse to accept the market rate, they will lose the assignment to another embroiderer. Local shopkeepers, on the other hand, state that with a virtual mushrooming of people doing business in phulkari, their profit margins have been reduced to less than Rs 10 per salwar suit.

So, things have only become tougher for genuine phulkari craftpersons. "What passes off as phulkari today is nowhere near what we used to do or had learnt from our mothers and aunts. But I have the satisfaction of having done good quality work and have taught the same to my daughter and grand-daughter. We used to make bags on which the embroidery was so intricate and so full that one could not see the base fabric," reveals Ram Piari (90), a craftswoman, who only recently stopped working because of her failing eyesight.

"Traditional work is rare to find. Though there are some craftswomen who still follow the original style, nowadays even French knot work and Sindhi embroidery are passed off as phulkari. Ironically, it is the widespread commercialisation of the craft that has led to its downfall," says Chhabra, who is also Ram Piari's grand-daughter.

Besides the compromise on quality, there is another change—fast-coloured synthetic threads have replaced the traditional hand-made silk thread, which are no longer available. Some women, however, claim that silk skeins are available in Pakistan.

There is no denying that phulkari is a booming business in Punjab. But considering that the artisans are not getting their due because of an over-kill, it is time the state government lent a helping hand to local entrepreneurs by giving access to subsidised loans and assistance in marketing. "Most craftspersons involved in this business are uneducated. It is not possible for them to handle the cumbersome paperwork required when applying for loans," says Gurpreet Singh, proprietor of a popular phulkari emporium in Patiala.

Phulkari has tremendous potential to earn foreign exchange. According to Chhabra, "foreigners who come to exhibitions seek traditional work. There is definitely a ready market abroad for craftswomen who do not compromise on the quality of their work."

The need of the hour is to organise the craftswomen. Perhaps a cooperative society could be formed, with women as equal partners. This would help in removing middlemen, especially in the case of big orders. "The government could help us in exhibiting our works at various exhibitions across the country. A service outlet could also be opened by the cooperative," suggests Ram Piari. — WFS

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